Ottawa Senators goalie Robin Lehner makes a save while New Jersey Devils left wing Patrik Eliasand Senators defenseman Chris Phillips look for the rebound during the second period at the Prudential Center. Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

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Dec 18, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils center Reid Boucher (15) celebrates his 1st NHL goal during the first period of their game against the Ottawa Senators at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 18, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) celebrates his goal during the second period of their game against the Ottawa Senators at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

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The Senators GM isn't happy and he doesn't want to see this kind of effort anymore.

Bad decisions. Bad errors. Bad goals. Bad calls. And, the usual bad efforts, plague the Senators as they try desperately to get back into the NHL’s playoff picture and fall exceedingly short.

Trying to win two straight games for the first time in over a month, the Senators packed up their troubles in their old kit bag and dropped a terrible 5-2 decision to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday at the Prudential Center.

A frustrated Murray read the club the riot act afterwards in an eight-minute meeting.

“It was message from the top of expectations and what we should be expecting of each other,” said alternate captain Chris Phillips.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as (the riot act). It wasn’t friendly. We’ve got to be better.

“We’ve got to expect more from ourselves and be better as a team. Word it how you want I guess.”

Coach Paul MacLean isn't happy at all.

He questioned the club's work ethic and leadership.

"For the most part our effort was not good enough to win," said MacLean. "We have to find a way to come the rink and work harder.

"We're an inconsistent group. We can't get the puck out of our zone. We play good against good teams. We play bad against teams below us. That's just a lack of focus, a lack of leadership and that's a lack of us wanting to play in the National Hockey League and be an elite team. We are a long, long way from being an elite team."

Making a rare second straight start, goaltender Robin Lehner was hung out to try dry as the Senators dropped their third straight on the road as only Colin Greening and Milan Michalek were able to beat the legendary Martin Brodeur on the 24 shots he faced.

Eric Gelinas, Damian Brunner, Jaromir Jagr, Reid Boucher and Stephen Gionta beat Lehner on 33 shots. The Senators could have moved to within a point of Toronto for a wildcard spot in the East but sit three points back instead.

Coming off a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Monday at home, the Senators were hopeful they’d turned the corner. Instead, they put it in reverse again.

Michalek looked like he was going to provide life by pulling the club to within 4-2 at 8:35 of the third, but 25 seconds later Gelinas restored the three-goal lead. Game over.

“We’re clearly frustrated with our lack of being able to follow up a win with another win,” said captain Jason Spezza.

“That comes right from the top from every guy on the team. As an organization we’re all disappointed with our inability to string together some games and get any traction.”

The Devils pulled out to a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes when Brunner was allowed to slash the stick out of Jared Cowen’s hands and then beat Lehner with 28 seconds left to put this away.

Greening cut the Devils’ lead to 3-1 when he beat Brodeur on the stick side on the power play. Up until then, the Devils had been getting all the bounces and it didn’t look like Brodeur was going to be beatable.

"Frustration is a useless emotion," said coach Paul MacLean. "We need more anger."

The legendary Jagr, who had joked in the morning he had more hits than power play goals, finally got his first of the season when he was left all alone in front to backhand it by Lehner at 2:08.

“It’s hard to find the answers,” said Lehner.

“We did something good in the last game, we talked about keeping it simple and we did the total opposite. I don’t know. It’s a little frustrating. I think we’re a way better than we show. We play different games night-to-night.

“We give away goals. We give the other team a lot. It’s tough.”

You couldn’t blame Lehner for this mess. The Senators were giving up great chances and the Devils made the most of the ones they did get — including Boucher’s first NHL goal.

He was able to fire home a fortunate bounce off the boards to beat Lehner on the stick side at 12:08 to give New Jersey the two-goal advantage. The Senators felt Joe Corvo was tripped up by Michael Ryder.

A terrible giveaway by Corvo resulted in the opening goal by Gionta. With Ottawa on the power play, he coughed it up to Adam Henrique and then couldn’t do anything as Gionta converted the pass by Lehner on the glove side at 2:02.

The Senators won’t have any time for rest as the host the Florida Panthers Thursday to start a three-game homestand before the Christmas break.

New Jersey Devils roll over Ottawa Senators 5-2

Bad decisions. Bad errors. Bad goals. Bad calls. And, the usual bad efforts, plague the Senators as they try desperately to get back into the NHL’s playoff picture and fall exceedingly short.

Trying to win two straight games for the first time in over a month, the Senators packed up their troubles in their old kit bag and dropped a terrible 5-2 decision to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday at the Prudential Center.

Making a rare second straight start, goaltender Robin Lehner was hung out to try dry as the Senators dropped their third straight on the road as only Colin Greening and Milan Michalek were able to beat the legendary Martin Brodeur on the 24 shots he faced.